The terms “ultrabook” and “budget-friendly” are very rarely found in the same sentence, but that’s probably one of the reasons Asus is readying the Vivobook S301. This 13-inch portable computing machine is not exactly dirt-cheap, but at a starting price of 700 bucks it’s definitely a more sensible choice for your bank accounts than most ultrabooks out there.

And best of all, the S301 doesn’t cut (so) many corners when it comes to performance, packing your choice of Intel’s brand spanking new Haswell processors. The top of the line config of course comes with an Intel Core i7 CPU, yet you can probably make do with the entry-level, i3-powered version if you’re not exactly a big gamer.

Meanwhile, the 13.3-inch screen is far from the cream of the crop, boasting a mediocre 1,366 x 768 pixels resolution. The 3.8 pound weight could be an issue for some as well, not to mention the rather underwhelming 38 Wh battery.

But hey, the Vivobook S301 runs full Windows 8, rocks a top-notch backlit keyboard, plus it supports up to 8 GB of RAM and 750 GB of HDD storage. Oh, yeah, and you can also get dedicated graphics, albeit the version with AMD Radeon Mobility 8530G will cost a little north of $700.

I’m sure you’re all wondering when you’ll be able to find this S301 in stores by now, but I’m afraid I’m going to leave you hanging. There’s no mention of an exact release date yet, even if it seems rather predictable Asus will look to launch it by the end of September. Ready or not, it’s coming.